Power-crane



(No Model.) 2 She etsSheet 1.

- F. 0. KILGORE.

POWER CRANE.

No. 545,589. Patented Sept. 3, 1895.

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w ww ,3 E41,, Mm W (No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

- F. O. KILGORE.

POWER CRANE. v No. 545,589. will Patented Sept. 3,1895.

" UNITED STATES 1 PATENT OFF CE.

FREDERICK KILGORE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

POWER-CRANE;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No; 545,589, datedSeptember 3, 1895. I I I ihpplication filedlebruary 16,1895- Serial Ka-462,577. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FREDERICK O. KILGORE,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis,ii1' thecounty of Hennepin'and State of Minnesota, havexinvented certain newanduseful Improvements in-Power-Cranes; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to 10 which it appertainsto make and use thesame.

My invention relates to'cranes. 'While capable of general use, mypresent i invention was particularly designed for use in handling logsin sawmills, and hasforits special object to provide a crane for such purpose, which will be more nimble' and rapid in 2-10 I devices and novelcombi lioperation, and which'may he more easily controlled than thecranes hitherto employed for the purpose.

' To these ends I employ the several novel nations and arrangements ofdevices, the salient features. of which'may be briefly set forth asfollows: ri'First, I employ in connection with the pairof engines,applied as just described, asingle controller for the valves of both .ofthe said engine s, the said controller beingcapable of independentaction on the valves or the two engines, either coincidently or atdifferent times. Second, I so construct and arrange the nection forcontrollingthe grapple-opening device that a single operator maymanipulate both and thereby control all the movements ofthe crane andthe grappiefrom a single position; I

The valve mechanism of the ho'isting-en gine is also of novelconstruction and will be fully set forth in the following detaileddescription. H F i .Thepreferred form of in y invention is illustratedin. the accompanying drawings, as applied on a movable truck; but itwill, of course, be understood that a fixed platform or other supportmight be used instead of the trucka Referring to said drawings, whereinlike letters refer to like parts throughout the sevral views, Figure1-is a right side elevation of the truck and my crane, some parts beingbroken away. Fig. 2 is a detail in plan view engine for imparting therotary or oscillatory showing my preferred connections from themotion-to the crane and also showing a por-- tion of the valvecontrolling mechanism. Fig. I

3 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line single and commonvalve-controllingdevice or controller and the support for the same.

fioation of the mechanism shown in Fig.2 for oscillating the crane. Fig.7 isa similar view of another modification. i

A represents the supporting-trucks, and B a steam-boiler thereon.-

C is the-crane-mast,whi'c'h is held at its top by the'stay brace orbraces a, rising from the ings a. a, and is cut away or formed of doubleuprights spaced apart at their central and lower portionsto form aseatfor the hoistingof the jib operated thereby..

jib-support rigid with the mast and'suitably braced therefrom.

the outer end of .the mast-arm 0'. I carries at its outer end a;grapple, which is by means of an unyielding or stiflt' liuke'. In virtueof this construction of: the grapple, when the weight of the jib isthrown upon the grapple, the toggle-sectione will be spread and thegrapple-jaws E willbe forced. open,

and when the grapple is lifted by the j ibthe grapple-jaws'will tend toclose by gravity, and their closing action will be further increased bythe load caught by the grapple. The innor end of the jib D terminates ator near the mast (land works between the two upright parts of the same.'i- F is the cylinder, and F is the piston of the load. The cylinder Fis rigidly secured bejright position withits axis on. the pivotal cenadetail View in front elevation showing the Fig. 6 isa detail plan viewillustrating a modi-.

truck, and at its bottom by a bearing-plate a, fixed to the top of thetruck-platform. Themast O is freetorotateor oscillate in its bear- C 'isan outwardly-extended n'nast-arm' or D is the pivoted jib pivotallyconnectedto' The jib D X X of Fig. 2,-some parts being broken away,

engine and give clearance for the inner end preferably in the form of alazy-tongs E e, the toggle-section e of which is hung to the jib 1C0reciprocating engine applied-for lifting the tween the two parts of themast C in an upter of the mast. The piston F has its pistonrod fextended upward through the upper head of the cylinder and connectedby-means of a link) to the inner end of the jib D. The lower head of thecylinder F is provided with a depending cylindrical pivot or pintleportion F, which projects downward through and works pivotally inthebearing-plate a of the truck. l

G is a spur-gear rigidly secured to the pintle portion F of the cylinderF at a point immediately above the bearing a and resting with its hub onthesaid hearing. The purpose of this gear G will appear later on. Thepintle portion F is formed with an axial chamber and valve-seat Fprovided with steam-passages f 2 and f extending from the verticatwallthereof, respectively, one to the upper and the other to the lower endof the cylinder F. The lower end of this valve-seat F is closed by astationary thimble F, theupper end of which extends into the seat F andpermits the pivotal motion of the pintle' portion F around the same.

11 is an exhaust-pipe from the thimble F". Both the pip'e H and thethimble F are supported in position by means of a keeper h, secured tothe bottom of the truck 'A and embracing said exhaust-pipe H.

H is a steam-supply pipe extending from the boiler B first downwardbelow the platform of the truck A, then forward toa point immediatelyunder the pivotal center of the mast, and then upward on the line of themasts pivotal center through the thimble E and terminating in andsecured to a valve F for controlling the steam-passages f 2 and f. Thisvalve F is in the form of a piston-head working with a tight joint inthe seat F and has a port-opening f, forming a continuation of thesteam-suppl y passage from the pipe H, and terminating in an annularperipheral groove f. This valve F has also a series ofexhaust-perforations or outlet steam-passages f extending verticallythrough the same. To the elbow-union h of the pipe H is pivotallyattached the free end of a lever m, pivotally f ulcrumed to the bracket'm', depending from the truck-frame. The outer end of the lever m isconnected by means of a link m to the forwardly projecting end of a bellcrank hand-lever M. This hand-lever M constitutes the common and singlecontrolling device or controller for the valves of both engines, as willpresently appear. The lever M is mounted for universal pivotal movementby means of its pivotal connection with a swivel head or block m workingin a fixed bearingblock m secured on top of the truck-platfor1n.- 1 Theoperation of the crane in raising and I lowering the load is as follows:By rocking the lever M toward the front the forward end of thesteam-delivery pf'ipeH' will be raised, carryingwith it the valve F' andbringing the annular steam-port f opposite the steam-port f thusadmitting steam .to the lower end of the cylinder F. In this positionthe valve will be carried above the steam-port f; hereby openingtheupper end of'the cylinde to the 7::

lower portion. of the valve-seat F from whence the steam is free toexhaust through 1 the exhaust-pipe H. As is evident'under this action ofthe. valve mechanism,the piston F f will be raised and the load orgrapple will be lowered. Again, when the hand-lever M a.

is rocked tor the rearthe valve 1? will be drawn downward "into theposition shown in Fig. '4, in which position the annular valvegroovelfwill be opposite the steam-port f 8c thus admitting steam to the upperend of the cylinderF. In this position the upper edge of the valve FWill be drawn below the port f thus opening the lower end of thecylinder to exhaust through said port f, through the upper chamber ofthe valve-seat F from thence through the perforations f in the valve Finto the lower chamber of said seat F, and from thence into theexhaust-pipe H. i As is obvious in this action of the valve mecho anism,the piston F f will beforced downward and the load caught by the grappleE e or the grapple itself will be-raised. The horizontali section of thesteam-supply pipe H will yield or spring sufliciently to permit the 5movements of the valve F. N is a grappleopening device shown asin theform of a pair of strands connected one to each of the grapple-tongs onopposite sides of the tongs-pivotand provided with a common connectionN,

extending over a suitable guide-sheave N on the outer end of the jib,and thence to within reach of the operator standing on thetruckplatform. The inner end of the cord N .or

other flexible connection is secured to the jibsupport or elsewhere, andthe said cord may be provided with a handle-piece N. The operator canhandle the grapple-opening dey vice N from the connection N with onehand while handling the valve-controller M withuro the other. v

Referring now to the means for imparting to and controlling the rotarymotions of the crane, R is the cylinder and B M5 the piston of thereciprocating engine) The cylinder R ,1 I 5 is rigidly secured tothelplatform-truck A longitudinally thereof, and the piston-rod r of thepiston carries at its outer portion a rack R, which works through akeeper rand is thereby held inengagement with the'spurno gear G, whichis rigid with the mast O. R is the steam-chest of the engine, a is theslide-valve working in said chest, and 7" are the stem ports openingfrom the steam-chest.

into the front and rear ends ot' the cylinder, :25

This valve mechanism is of the ordinary wellknown construction, and itis only deemed .1 Y

' necessary to,note that the forward movement of the slid'e alve 'rcauses an outstroke of the piston, while the rearward movement of [3cthe said valve '1' willcause the inward movement of the said piston.Steam is supplied to the steam-chest R from the boiler/B through 1-steam-supply pipe r and is exhausted two engines.forsimultaneouslyoperating the through the exhaust-port The stem 4* of the valve 1'extends forward through the steam-chest R and is connected to one end(of a pivoted bell-crank. r", the other end of 5 which bell-crank isconnected by means-of'a' link r to the side of the hand-leverjM. The

bell-crank r is pivoted at its angle to a bracket r? rising from thetruck-platform; .The operation .of the mechanism just,de-

1o scribed to give the rotary er oscillatory motion to the craneis' afollows: By throwing the H lever M laterally toward the rightside of themachine the valve will be drawn forward, admitting steam to the rear endof the cylinder R, thus forcingthe piston R 'r 'and the rack R forwardand rotating the crane so as to turn the grapple end of the jib to theright.

By moving the hand-lever M in the opposite direction-toward the leftsideof the ma- :0 chine-the valve 1' will be .thrown backward,

the piston R '1' will make an inward stroke,

. and the grapple end of the jib will be thrown to the left. 'Thus,'bythis construction and arrangement of the valve-operating mechanism .2the movement. of the hand-lever M'laterally will give the movement ofthe grappleend of the jib the same direction as the movement ofthelever. The forward motion of the lever M causes an upstroke of thepiston of the hoisting-engine F F, thus lowering thegrap:

pie, and the rearward movement of the-lever .M causes a downstroke ofthe said piston, thus raising the grapple, as hitherto stated. It istherefore obvious, from the foregoing de- 'scription, thatin virtue ofthe universal movement of the lever M both engines may be independentlycontrolled, either at diflerent times or at the same time, by one handof the operator. This is accomplished by moving the said 40 hand-leveror controller M at an angle to the direct lines of itsoperativemovements; or, otherwise stated, the lines of the operative movement ontherespectiv'e valves extend'at right angles to each other, the forwardand backward motion controllingthe engine which raises or lowers the jiband the lateral motion from right to leftcontrolli'ng the engine whichoscillates ,or swings the crane. The lever M will therefore move on oneor the other/of these direct lines if either engine'is'tobe operatedalone, leaving the other idle; but ordinarily it is desirable to.operate both engines at one time, thereby raisin g or lowering thegrapple while swinging the crane. To do 5 5--this it is only necessaryfor the operator to move the lever-M on the angular line, 'which wouldbe the resultant of two forces simultaneously applied in the operativelines. for

the independent actions of the two engines.- In other wordsfit takes thediagonal of the two operativelines. This arrangement of the jib andswingingthe crane under-the control of. a single lever. greatlyincreases the chiciency/ of the machine The operator with onehand on theleverM controls the engine, leaving-his other hand freeto operate thegrapple-opening devicethrough the connection N. Hence there need be nolost time whatever in manipulating the crane.

Inthe modification shown in Fig. 6 the spur-gear G'on the crane-mast Cis engaged by-a segmental gear. S, pivoted to the truckframe at S andconnected at a point eccentric to its center by means of a link S to theend of the piston-rod rof the engine R R. The segmental gear S is ofrelatively large radius, as compared with the gear G, for the purpose ofgiving an increased angular movement torthe said gear G, and hence tothe crane.

Another modification is shown in Fig. 7,

wherein a flexible connection T-.such as a.

band, rope, or cable-is given aturn around "a sheave T onthe mast andits opposite ends described might be changed without departing from myinvention.

When using the crane on a stationary plat form instead of the truckas,for example,

on the floor or framing of a sawmill-it is preferable to mountthe-hoisting-engine below the mast in line with the same and pass thepiston-rod up through the bearing-plate to the jib or to a cross-headconnected with the jib. I a

It should be noted that'the construction of thehoisting-engine-cranemast is animportant improvement, enabling the valvemechanism to bereadily applied and controlled while permitting the freerotary or oscillatory movement of the crane.

The pivotal connection of the grapple with the jib by the link e, theflexible grappleopening device N with its operating extension N, and thelocation of the guide-sheave N a short distance back of the link e.',which should be about'ten inches, enable the oper ator bythe propermanipulation of the j-ibd) and the cord N to swing th'egr'appleyith re-"spect to the jib throughan arc of about forty- .five degrees to eachside of the vertical line.-

It will be understood, 'of course, that the grapple is given its movemnt on one side of a vertical line by drawin on the cord N and is swungto the other side of the vertical line by letting goof the cord and.allowing gravity and. momentum to becomeeffective.1v This gives thegrapple a range forward and'backward of about ninety degrees, enablingthe logs or'other. materials tobe picked up from any point inacomparatively large field. 1 In other words, the connection N N. servesa double function, one of whichis to co-operatewith the pivoted jib D toswing the grapple forward "and backward. Of course it would. .bepossible to add another connection for the express purpose of swingingthe grapple; but

this would :be much less desirable, forathereason operator could notwell manipulate two I difierent connections with one hand, which he mustdo with this'crane to leave the other hand-free for the lever M,to'control'the en- T, [O

' What Iiclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofxthe UnitedStates, is as follows:

. 1. The combina'tion with a crane, of a pair of 7 engines applied onetoraise or lower the load and] theother to swing'the craneand a commoncontroller for the valves of both engines,.snbstantially as described. p.2; The combination with a crane'having a pivotedjib, of apair ofvreciprocating engines,

the reciprocating menibers of which actrre-J specti vely one tooscillate the mast -and the other to oscillate the jib' and acommon handcontroller-for the valves of both engines mounted for'simultaneousor'independent action on the said valves, wherebyboth engines maybeindependcntly or simultaneously op-' erated under control from acommon source, substantially as described.

3. The combination with acrane having a pivoted jib, of a pair ofreciprocating engines applied one to swing the-crane and the other.

i to raise or lower the jib, and a common "controller for the valves ofboth engines in the form of a hand-lever having a universal movement,substantiallyas'and vfor the pnrposes set forth. v 4. The combinationwith the crane having a pivoted jib of theengines F F and R R operatingas described, the bell crank handlever pivoted to the swivel m pandprostantiall'yias described.

5. The combination with a crane having a' pivoted jib, of the pair ofreciprocating engines' having their reciprocating members appliedrespectively one to swing the crane and the other to raise or lowerthejib, a common controlleriforthe valves of both engines ca.-

pable of' independent or simultaneous action thereon, a lazy tongsgrapple having its head toggle connected to the jib by .an unyieldingoperating, sublink, a'nda grapple opening device provided i with anoperating connection extended to within reach of the operator, wherebyboth control of asingle operator from one position. 6. The combinationwith a crane having a pivoted jib of the engine on the mast havin cessedextension forminga pintle or pivotfor the mast and a seat for theengine'valve,'.a slidingvalve in said seat and a combined supply pipeand valve stem movableaxially' .in said-seat for supplying/the-fluid and:controlling the valve, substantially'as described. 7. In a crane havingthe pivoted jib'D, the combination withthe lazy tongs grapple E e havingits head toggle 'pivotally connected with the'jib'by the rigidlinkcf, ofthe guide sheave N located on the jib,-.al'short distance back of thegrapple, and thejcombinedopening "and swinging, device N appliedJtothegrapple and provided with the common connection N passing over saidsheaveN, substantially as and fertile purpose-set forth.

of the engines and the grapple are under the I 1S5- its piston appliedtofloperate the, j iband pr l vided on one of its cylinder heads with are- I In testi'monywhereof I afiix my signature Witnesses:

JAstF. WILLIAMSON,

EMMA F. ELMORE.

